Vintage Cloud will exhibit a new archive digitization and indexing service at IBC

Vintage Cloud launches a new service designed to monetize valuable archive assets while saving costs

At IBC, Vintage Cloud is announcing a new service designed for companies who want to monetize their valuable archive assets but who do not have, or wish to invest in, the equipment or personnel necessary to achieve it. As well as digitization of archive analog assets, indexing and the generation of metadata are also available to customers who have already digitized their archive, but who have not yet extracted the data from it that will maximize its value.

“Vintage Cloud was created by film people for film people, and we share a background in film editing, cinematography, sound engineering and film production,” highlights Peter Englesson, CEO of Vintage Cloud. ”We know film, and that means we can provide all the expertise needed for any size of archive to help customers derive the maximum value from their film content.”

The service is 3-5 times less costly per digitized hour than other systems

The new service is based on Vintage Cloud Steenbeck, which is capable of digitizing separate image and audio at the same time at up to 4K resolution and up to 60 fps. It is therefore 3-5 times less costly per digitized hour than other systems, according to Vintage Cloud. The company also claims that Vintage Cloud Steenbeck is highly tolerant of broken perforations, fragile splices, warped and brittle film, and is capable of handling shrunken film via a special capstan sprocket.

“We can take care of an entire project, delivering maximum results for minimum cost,” Englesson continues. “There’s a lot to think about in undertaking a project to transfer analog files to digital – but we’ve used our considerable experience and expertise in making the investment in creating the optimum tools for the job.”

The all-in-one system has now been enhanced by the introduction of Smart Indexing. Vintage Cloud developed this software that uses AI and machine learning to automatically generate a load of new metadata for search and categorization. For material that has already been digitized, Smart Indexing is available as a standalone app for automatic content tagging.

“Using Smart Indexing’s automatic tagging helps categorize and curate content, meaning that revenue can be generated from film assets quickly, easily and seamlessly,” adds Englesson. “The keyframes generated in Smart Indexing are an easy and quick way for users to make sure their film assets are found by the right buyers. They also enable customers to search through their own archives and organize their libraries.”

Smart Indexing is capable of delivering a tagging result in a fraction of a second. AI allows Smart Indexing to automatically recognize over 11,000 objects, scenes and events. It can even recognize faces (including the emotions portrayed by those faces). Smart Indexing can distinguish ‘known’ faces, or the user can add names to faces and those faces, with their associated data, are added to the Smart Indexing database such that they are automatically recognizable in other assets.

Vintage Cloud is highly tolerant of broken perforations, fragile splices, warped and brittle film, and is capable of handling shrunken film via a special capstan sprocket.